Brian S. Doyle
On Wednesday, Dec 20th, Coach Zach Reese and the Cy Fair Bobcats hosted in-district rival Langham Creek HS Boys and Girls team, as Cy Fair welcomed back their Bobcat wrestling alumni. There were many former All-State wrestlers in the house, including two former UIL Champs: Angie Murray ’07 (sister of the Langham Creek coach), and Austin McCain ’07.
Coach Reese and Langham Creek’s Coach Tommy Murray are also former Cy Fair wrestlers. Murray was on one of the first Cy Fair teams, when they didn’t even practice in their own gym, but travelled to Cy Ridge HS, where Coach Tim Ray put them through their drills.
It would be an interesting evening as the Langham Creek Lobos are working to claim their spot at the top of the 12 team, District 10-6A (all schools are in the CFISD). The LC Boys most recently had a 3rd place finish at the Doc Hess Invitational in Bryan, while the Cy Fair Girls finished 3rd at the Woodlands Invite.
Coming into the match, Langham Creek brings five ranked wrestlers on the 6 mile bus trip to Cy Fair HS.
The Girls took the mat first:
100 lbs: #12 ranked Hailey Bello, a junior, recently won her 100th varsity match on her run to third place at the Doc Hess Invitational. Bello also placed 3rd at the Ruble at the Rock. Tonight, Sophie Mahon of Cy Fair would challenge Bello. Mahon came out and scored the first takedown, but Bello quickly escaped and got her own takedown. She turned Mahon over with an arm bar for two and turned her a second time for the pin at 1:44. LC 6, CF 0.
107 lbs: Gabriella Barreno of Langham Creek met Sarina Saie of Cy Fair next. The first period was spent with both girls hand-fighting, trying to get the best position for a takedown, but no points were scored. Saie chose down and within seconds, was caught in a perfectly executed cradle and turned for the fall at 2:17. LC 12, CF 0.
114 lbs: At 114, Ke’myah Rogers of CyFair took on Yvette Zepeda, Langham Creek’s recent champ at the Rumble at the Rock. Rogers came out aggressively and attempted a headlock throw, but Zepeda was able to keep a tight waist and roll through with it to pick up a takedown. Rogers stood and turned and tried again, but Zepeda kept rolling through. Zepeda turned Rogers with a power half for three nearfall points and rode out for the rest of the first, with a 5-0 lead. Zepeda chose neutral, and was given a stall warning after backing off the mat while defending the charge by Rogers. After the restart, Rogers tried another throw, and again gave up another takedown as Zepeda rolled through again. Going into the third, it was Zepeda up 7-0. Rogers chose neutral, and guess what? Rogers got two takedowns without even trying a throw. Unfortunately for her, Zepeda escaped and reversed, and the match ended 10-4 in Zepeda’s favor. LC 15, CF 0.
120 lbs: Jacey Price would stop the bleeding as she would defeat Candy Rodriguez of LC, with a pin at 3:39. It was an entertaining first period, with both wrestlers scoring near-falls. After some confusion at the scoring table, a conference held with both coaches and the ref, the score was adjusted to 7-7 going into the second period. Rodriguez was unable to get anything going from the bottom, and Price would turn her with a deep half and the pin was recorded at 3:39. LC 15, CF 6….
